Bus interface protocols can be used to provide power over wired interfaces. For example, bus interface protocols can be used to provide power to charge a battery and/or directly power a power-consuming device. A particular type of bus interface protocol is the Universal Serial Bus (USB). USB can be used, for example, to attach external peripherals to host devices, to interface between peripherals, to charge devices, and for other applications. USB provides various different data transfer speeds, charging modes, and power providing and sinking capabilities. USB Type-C technology can be used to provide power as well as high speed data connectivity. The USB Type-C specification defines a 24-pin fully reversible-plug USB Type-C connector for USB devices and USB cabling. For example, USB Type-C compliant connectors can support 5V with 500 mA/900 mA (for USB 2.0/USB 3.1), 1.5 A and 3 A modes.
USB Type-C technology uses pull-down resistors for power delivery purposes. For example, once a USB host detects a pull-down resistor at a USB Type-C compliant connector, the USB host can apply a predefined voltage through the USB Type-C compliant connector. After the predefined voltage is applied through the USB Type-C compliant connector, the pull-down resistor is disabled to reduce power consumption. A typical pull-down resistor uses a 0V threshold semiconductor device to maintain the voltage on the pull-down resistor and to disable the pull-down resistor to reduce power consumption. However, a 0V threshold semiconductor device can be costly to manufacture, and therefore, can increase the component cost of a corresponding pull-down resistor.